PERSONALITY-DISORDER SYMPTOMATOLOGY AMONG VIETNAM VETERANS WITH COMBAT-RELATED PTSD

This research examined self-report personality profiles of 42 Vietnam veterans with combat-related posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) eval uated at an outpatient Veteran's Administration hospital PTSD clinic. Assessment was via the Structured Clinical Interview for the Diagnosti c and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (3rd ed., rev; DSM-III-R) Personality Disorders-II (SCID-II) self-report. Self-reported persona lity disorder symptomatology of PTSD patients was contrasted with that of 51 outpatients with a primary diagnosis of an anxiety disorder oth er than PTSD and with 16 patients with a primary diagnosis of major de pressive disorder (MDD). Symptomatology from each of the 11 DSM-III-R categories and from the three personality disorder ''clusters'' was ca lculated in terms of percentage of possible traits endorsed, thus crea ting personality ''profiles'' for the three groups. PTSD veterans endo rsed more traits overall than did both the mixed anxiety and MDD group s, particularly on the Cluster A, avoidant, and borderline scales. Res ults suggest a PTSD-related personality profile characterized by emoti onal lability/poor anger control, paranoia/suspiciousness, identity di sturbance/confusion, social withdrawal/avoidance, and feelings of empt iness and boredom. (C) 1996 Wiley-Liss, Inc.